"Heritage media," meaning media such as newspapers and TV thought to be losing sway in the face of changing communication, and "petrichor," which is released by eucalypts into rivers and encourages fish and invertebrates to breed, also won honorable mentions.

"Heritage media", meaning media such as newspapers and TV thought to be losing sway in the face of changing communication, and "petrichor", which is released by eucalypts into rivers and encourages fish and invertebrates to breed, also won honourable mentions.

Over the past 13 years, Garg has shared thousands of words with fellow linguaphiles, including illeist (someone who refers to himself in the third person, a la Bo Jackson), and petrichor (the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell), and origin trivia like the fact that “shampoo” comes from the Hindi word “chumpee,” meaning “head massage.”

The common rain smell is a gas called petrichor. Volatiles evaporate from plants and are absorbed by rocks, concrete etc. When the rain hits the rock, the volatiles are released into the atmosphere and you smell it.